Mader, in May, called the city requesting a dog catcher be sent to her property so that he could euthanize her dog. The dog catcher arrives, and states that the condition of the dog is unlike anything he had ever seen in his 20 years. The dog catcher crudely euthanized the dog by bringing it to a dump and shooting it in the head. After this point the dog catcher contacted the RCMP who collected the body to have a necropsy performed to learn the extent of the injuries.
RCMP took statements from Mader as well as from some neighbors. Mader indicated in her statement that the dog had been hers since it was a puppy, that she was the owner of the property, and that she left the dog chained in the back yard. She further indicated that despite her being in full control of the animal, she never once took steps to care for the animal. She admitted to never having fed the animal and instead relying on random acts of passerby’s, specifically a ‘friend’ named Carlo. Carlo stated that although he would occasionally bring scraps to the dog because he liked the dog very much, no formal agreement between him and the defendant was ever made. Further, Carlo indicated he would often go away for weeks at a time which suggests that the dog would be left starving during these occasions.
Mader was brought in on several counts, however, the transcript provided only attests to one count as there was a plea bargain struck between the Crown and the defence which permitted the Crown to stay the charges on the other counts and proceed summarily on the single count under S.446(1)(a) of the Criminal Code
Mader has no previous criminal record, was 55 years of age in 2015 (born in 1960), and has some Gladue mitigating factors to consider during sentencing, notably: she is a member of the Bunibonibee Cree, she experienced neglect as a child, she experienced a childhood directly impacted by alcohol abuse, and she was placed into foster care at a very young age.